The Book of Judas

[All-American]

That's not necessarily true, either. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophetic works, Isaiah in particular, are all considered to be beautiful poetry. That was simply the expected medium of the word of God in those days.

The Book of Mormon doesn't claim to be poetry-- it claims to be a translation. Any good translation is going to sound awry at best, especially when the translator is relatively unskilled in English.

[jwf]

Is this board becoming Robin and Catblue's board to show that us LDS folk are wrong?

[Archaea]

Robin might not be heard from.

Seattle, simply gives us his view, jaded as it might be. It's an important position to hear it, not so childishly proclaimed as by Robin.

Otherwise LDS topics are discussed cautiously but with candor.

[creekster]

Ultimately a belief in the Book of Mormon must rest only on faith, not in any way reason. Robin should respect your faith unless you try to use reason to convince him you are right.

CatBlue is pretty close to being right here. I don't agree with his conclusion, but ultimately, the religious acceptance of the BoM as scripture must begin and end with faith. I believe that reason (and I think when he says reason he means something more like empiriacl analysis) may assist in the process, but ultimately, it must start and end with faith. That's even in Moroni's promise. So while I think it is incorrect to say belief must rest ONLY on faith, that is certainly the large part of a testimony in the book, IMO.

So I see little to quibble with in his comments. Quite honestly, as literature the BoM is not that good. That's not why I read it.

This contrasts rather starkly with Robin's approach, which is pedantic and childish at the same time.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by All-American

That's not necessarily true, either. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophetic works, Isaiah in particular, are all considered to be beautiful poetry. That was simply the expected medium of the word of God in those days.

The Book of Mormon doesn't claim to be poetry-- it claims to be a translation. Any good translation is going to sound awry at best, especially when the translator is relatively unskilled in English.

As I've stated before, I believe parts of the OT are sublime as literature:

http://cougarguard.com/phpBB2/viewto...r=asc&start=15

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

As I've stated before, I believe parts of the OT are sublime as literature:

http://cougarguard.com/phpBB2/viewto...r=asc&start=15

That little review you wrote got me to pick up the OT for the first time in years. I'm currently in the book of Judges and have thoroughly enjoyed myself to this point.

Regarding the BoM, I have to echo just about everything that Creekster wrote a couple posts above. While reason can play some part in a testimony of the BoM, in the end the matter is one of faith. I certainly don't read the BoM because I find the writing to be a thing of beauty. But my spiritual life has its basis in that book and I value it as the ultimate source for "spiritual food." I don't fault anyone for coming to different conclusions and I've not ever felt like SeattleUte was attacking my beliefs.

[tooblue]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

That little review you wrote got me to pick up the OT for the first time in years. I'm currently in the book of Judges and have thoroughly enjoyed myself to this point.

Regarding the BoM, I have to echo just about everything that Creekster wrote a couple posts above. While reason can play some part in a testimony of the BoM, in the end the matter is one of faith. I certainly don't read the BoM because I find the writing to be a thing of beauty. But my spiritual life has its basis in that book and I value it as the ultimate source for "spiritual food." I don't fault anyone for coming to different conclusions and I've not ever felt like SeattleUte was attacking my beliefs.

You've not lived until you read the Old Testament and the Koran in French, and for that matter the Book of Mormon.

The real problem is the English language … a language that requires far too much effort to make the ordinary sound eloquent –see:

Huckleberry Fin … like gnawing on black licorice
Pride and Prejudice and the like … exhausting
Shakespeare … anarchy

The book of Mormon is not a literary masterpiece. However there are few texts that can match its bluntness and the audacity of its origins.

[Archaea]

I'm sorry, not even French can make the Koran readable.

Arabic is a very, very flowery language, but that doesn't make it enjoyable.

I like French, but Voltaire, Hugo and Zola.

I have a very good translation of the Quran, but I don't appreciate it. There is no linear nature in it at all. It never gets to a point. I even tried to read the Incoherence of the Philosophers.

Read the Islamic texts and you'll see why they're all screwed up.

The spiritual power of the BoM is why you read it. And I agree, outside of Shakespeare, most English writing is hideous.

Many writers tell great stories, but the fabric of the language is just coarse.

German has more beauty than English.